5 Things to Check Before You Help Your Parents With Money

Most of us grew up having our parents pay for things — from food and basic necessities, to sports fees, and maybe even college. However, eventually the situation might reverse, and your parents could be asking you for financial help. You will most likely want to return the favor and help them. Adults have to consider their own finances as well, though. Helping one’s parents in addition to paying one’s own bills can be difficult. In addition, the way you respond to the request, and whether you say yes or no, can affect your relationship by adding an extra weight.

Although many parents would only ask for financial help when necessary, and many adult children feel guilty saying no, you need to be sure that the situation works for you too. Here are five situations when you should help your parents financially.

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1. You can afford to help your parents

This is the most important factor to consider when deciding whether or not you can help your parents financially. If you have a lot of extra money and your parents really need help, you should probably help them. Even if they want money to do something fun (and not necessary), you still might want to help them out as a way of saying thank you for the many years that they helped you. However, even if your parents are asking for a very small amount of money, if you don’t have the money, you can’t help them. You also need to consider whether or not taking money out of your savings would put you in a dangerous and unstable financial situation.